Ji So-yun ( ko, 지소연, ; born 21 February 1991) is a South Korean professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

WK League The WK League (Hangul: WK리그) is a semi-professional women's football league, run by the Korea Football Association (KFA) and the Korea Women's Football Federation (KWFF), which represents the sport's highest level in South Korea. The regular ...

club

Suwon FC Suwon FC ( ko, 수원 FC; Hanja: 水原 FC) is a South Korean professional football club based Suwon that competes in the K League 1, the top division of South Korea. They play their home games at Suwon Stadium. History Early years: semi-profe ...

and the South Korean national team.

Club career

Ji started her career in Japan, playing for

L. League The , commonly known as the , is a semi-professional women's association football Women's association football, more commonly known simply as women's football or women's soccer, is a team sport of association football when played by women o ...

champions

INAC Kobe Leonessa INAC Kobe is a Japanese football club from Kobe, founded in 2001. INAC stands for International Athletic Club while Leonessa means Lioness in Italian. In 2006 INAC Leonessa was promoted to the Nadeshiko.League, where it has played since 2020. ...

between 2011 and 2013. In November 2013, Ji was subject to a

transfer Transfer may refer to: Arts and media * ''Transfer'' (2010 film), a German science-fiction movie directed by Damir Lukacevic and starring Zana Marjanović * ''Transfer'' (1966 film), a short film * ''Transfer'' (journal), in management studies ...

bid from English club

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

. She agreed to a two-year contract in January 2014. When the transfer was officially confirmed later that month, Chelsea manager

Emma Hayes Emma Carol Hayes (born 18 October 1976) is an English professional football manager. She is currently the manager of FA WSL club Chelsea Women. She previously served as the head coach and director of football operations for Chicago Red Stars o ...

said of Ji: "She is one of the best midfielders in the world and our fans will love her." In one of her final matches for the Japanese club, Ji scored against her soon-to-be new club, Chelsea, in the International Women's Club Championship final. Ji was named Players' Player of the Year after her first season in England, as Chelsea narrowly missed out on the FA WSL 1 league title on the last day of the season. She was named

PFA Women's Players' Player of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Women's Players' Player of the Year is an annual award given to the player who is voted to have been the best of the year in English women's football. The award has been presented since the 2012–13 se ...

in April 2015 and was also named in the PFA WSL Team of the Year. In the

2015 FA Women's Cup Final The 2015 FA Women's Cup Final was the 45th final of the FA Women's Cup, England's primary cup competition for women's football teams. The showpiece event was the 22nd to be played directly under the auspices of the Football Association (FA) and ...

, staged at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

for the first time, Ji scored the only goal of the match to win the Cup for Chelsea. In October 2015 she also scored in Chelsea's 4–0 win over

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

which secured the club's first

FA WSL The Women's Super League (WSL), currently known as the Barclays Women's Super League (BWSL) for sponsorship reasons, is the highest league of women's football in England. Established in 2010, it is run by the Football Association and features t ...

title and a League and Cup

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * Th ...

. On 1 April 2018, Ji made her 100th appearance for Chelsea in a 1–1 draw against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. In the light of her performances for Chelsea over the years and the instrumental role she played in Chelsea's 2020–21 FA WSL winning team, Suzanne Wrack of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' claimed that Ji was the best foreign player in the history of WSL. After spending eight years with Chelsea, Ji left the club following the 2021–22 season. She made over 200 appearances and scored 68 goals in all competitions, and won six league titles, four FA Cups, two league cups, and one Community Shield. On 24 May 2022, Ji returned to her homeland and joined

side

, her first spell with a South Korean club. On her WK League debut on 18 August 2022, she scored a brace in a 3–0 victory against Boeun Sangmu.

International career

Ji represented South Korea at under-17 level and was part of the under-20 team that finished as runners-up at the 2009 AFC U-19 Women's Championship, and in third place at the 2010 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup. In October 2006, Ji made her senior team debut while playing at the

2006 Peace Queen Cup The 2006 Peace Queen Cup was first edition of Peace Queen Cup. It was held from October 28 to November 4, 2006 in South Korea. Venues Group stage All times are Korean Standard Time (KST) – UTC+9 Group A ---- ---- ---- ---- --- ...

. On 30 November 2006, she became the youngest goalscorer () for the South Korean senior team, after scoring two goals against

Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One-China principle stipulated by th ...

at the

2006 Asian Games 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

. Ji is the all-time top goal scorer of the South Korean women's national team with 65 goals.

Career statistics

Club

International goals

:''Scores and results list South Korea's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ji goal.''

Honours

INAC Kobe Leonessa * Nadeshiko League Division 1:

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

Empress's Cup , since 2018 renamed "Empress's Cup JFA Japan Women's Football Championship" ( ja, 皇后杯 JFA 全日本女子サッカー選手権大会) or The Empress's Cup, is a Japanese Women's football competition. As an elimination tournament, it can be ...

Nadeshiko League Cup The Nadeshiko League Cup (Japanese: なでしこリーグカップ) is a cup competition for women's football clubs in Japan. The competition began as the L.League Cup in 1996 and it was abolished after the 1999 edition. It reappeared on the occ ...

* International Women's Club Championship:

Chelsea *

FA Women's Super League The Women's Super League (WSL), currently known as the Barclays Women's Super League (BWSL) for sponsorship reasons, is the highest league of women's football in England. Established in 2010, it is run by the Football Association and features ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

, 2017, 2017–18, 2019–20,

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

, 2021–22 *

Women's FA Cup The Women's FA Challenge Cup Competition is the top annual cup tournament for women's clubs in English football. Founded in 1970, it has been named the WFA Cup, FA Women's Cup and now Women's FA Cup (Vitality Women's FA Cup for sponsorship rea ...

: 2014–15, 2017–18,

, 2021–22 *

FA Women's League Cup The FA Women's League Cup is a league cup competition in English women's association football. The competition was originally open to the eight teams in the FA WSL, but since the WSL's restructuring to two divisions, it has featured 23 teams. Pri ...

: 2019–20,

Women's FA Community Shield The Women's FA Community Shield is an association football match in England. It is a national super cup, and the equivalent of the FA Community Shield in male football. It is the first competitive match of the football season. The match is comp ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

South Korea U20 *

FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup The FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup is an international association football tournament, organized by FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), for national teams of women under the age of 20. The tournament is held in even-numbere ...

third place:

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

AFC U-19 Women's Championship The AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup is an association football tournament for women's national teams under the age of 20, organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It is organised by the Asian Football Confederation every two years, and serv ...

runner-up:

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

South Korea Universiade *

Summer Universiade The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and "Olympiad". The Universiade is referred t ...

South Korea *

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...

bronze medal:

, 2014, 2018 * AFC Women's Asian Cup runner-up:

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

Individual * FIFA Women's World Player of the Year nominee:

(6th place) *

The Best FIFA Women's Player The Best FIFA Women's Player is a football award presented annually by the sport's governing body, FIFA, since 2016, to honour the player deemed to have performed the best over the previous calendar year. From 2001 to 2015, the award was know ...

nominee:

(11th place) * FIFA FIFPro Women's World11 nominee:

Silver Ball:

Silver Shoe:

Most Valuable Player:

* FA Women's Players' Player of the Year: 2014 *

: 2014–15 * PFA Team of the Year (FA WSL): 2014–15, 2015–16, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20 *

top goalscorer:

* Korean FA Women's Player of the Year: 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2021, 2022 * IFFHS Asian Women's Team of the Decade: 2011–2020 *

IFFHS The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...

Asian Women's Team of All Time: 2021 *

Midfielder of the Year:

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ji, So-yun 1991 births Living people Chungju Ji clan Footballers from Seoul Women's association football midfielders South Korean women's footballers South Korea women's under-17 international footballers South Korea women's under-20 international footballers South Korea women's international footballers South Korean expatriate footballers INAC Kobe Leonessa players Chelsea F.C. Women players Suwon FC Women players Nadeshiko League players Women's Super League players WK League players Expatriate women's footballers in Japan Expatriate women's footballers in England South Korean expatriate sportspeople in Japan South Korean expatriate sportspeople in England Asian Games medalists in football Footballers at the 2006 Asian Games Footballers at the 2010 Asian Games Footballers at the 2014 Asian Games Footballers at the 2018 Asian Games 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup players Asian Games bronze medalists for South Korea Medalists at the 2010 Asian Games Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games FIFA Century Club Universiade gold medalists for South Korea Universiade medalists in football 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup players Medalists at the 2009 Summer Universiade